Returning to the Team
by Animation Adventures
Summary: Sonic makes new friends in almost every adventure, yet by the end of them, they don't join the team and are only seen once. This is a series of stories that bring those characters back and shows that they are always welcome to be part of the diverse group of friends and heroes Sonic has.
1. Up to the Surface

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or anything in the Sonic series.

**I know I should be writing for my other stories, but college is at fault for taking up my time and taking away my muse. I would also like to give a shout-out to Child at Heart Forever for her amazing Sonic adaptions and her adaptions were what inspired me to start this up. You're talented, Child! :)**

* * *

Up to the Surface

"Sonic, you must live." Chip said spiritually to the unconscious hedgehog in Gaia Colossus's hand. Controlling the colossus from within, he threw Sonic up and out of the Earth's core. As Sonic flew out of his sight, Chip returned the Gaia Temples to their proper locations and removed his necklace from his person. He didn't want to forget Sonic and he didn't want Sonic to forget him. As a reminder of their friendship, Chip used the last of his power to send his necklace after Sonic before he would be sealed up inside the planet's core and returned to an eon's sleep. The necklace flew up to the surface as Chip spoke softly, "Bye, Sonic."

The planet returned to being whole and the last thing Chip could remember before falling asleep was feeling both his and Dark Gaia's powers becoming dormant within them. Their powers returned inside of them, recharging for the next time they would have to battle.

(A year later…)

_Sonic laughed as he ran across Spagonia's rooftops and looked behind him. "Come on, Chip!"_

_Flying behind Sonic a few feet, Chip pressed himself to keep up with his fast friend._

"_Easy for you to say, Sonic! You're the fastest thing on the planet!" Chip called out, his little wings fluttering furiously._

"_You can do it! You've kept up with me this long!" Sonic replied, looking ahead briefly to make sure he wouldn't have any unexpected surprises._

_Sonic's comment made Chip smile. It was true. Though he was small, Chip had managed to keep up with Sonic just as well as Tails can, tails or plane. At least that's what Sonic told him. Encouraged, Chip tried to fly faster to get up beside Sonic._

…

_The two walked through Apotos, saying hello to the people that they passed by. Chip was perfectly content until something caught his eye._

"_Sundae Supreme!" Chip yelled out eagerly. Flying forward, he approached the ice cream man's cart and eyed the delicious treat. Behind him, Sonic chuckled. He couldn't help it. The Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme was his second favorite food, behind chocolate of course._

_Shortly after, Sonic was lounging on a ledge on top of one of Apotos's buildings, munching on a chili dog while Chip indulged in his favorite ice cream. Sonic looked at Chip and offered a bite to the purple little guy. Chip shook his head negatively and then offered to share his ice cream. Sonic grinned and shook his head negatively as well. They both continued to eat their snacks while admiring the sunny day._

…

_In Adabat, Sonic stood inside a hut and frowned at the pouring rain. Pouring rain did not make for a good run. He felt his shoulder get tapped and looked behind him to see Chip holding a folded up umbrella. With a smile, Sonic took the umbrella and opened it up. Chip landed on Sonic's head and they went outside under the safety of the umbrella._

…

_Sonic finished talking to one of the people in Holoska's village and waved them farewell as they walked away. When Sonic turned around, he blinked surprisingly at Chip making a snowman. Chip finished putting the final touches on the snowman and presented it to Sonic. Laughing at Chip's antics, Sonic flashed a grin towards his small companion and quickly zoomed around the village. In a matter of moments, he completed a snowman twice the size of his own body. Triumphantly, he folded his arms and stood tall next to his creation._

_Chip gawked at the size of Sonic's snowman compared to his own and promptly fell onto his back in an overwhelmed faint. Sonic blinked surprisingly again and reached one hand up to scratch his head in confusion._

…

_Sonic, Tails, and Chip were in Mazuri and Sonic was currently talking to Kwod. Tails was making adjustments to the Miles Electric and Chip was off to the side, watching them both. _[1]

_Chip sighed sadly._

"_You sound sad, noble spirit."_

_Chip's ears shot up and he scanned his eyes everywhere. "Huh? Was someone talking?"_

"_Yes, I'm communicating with you."_

"_Um, not trying to sound rude, but this is a little creepy." Chip responded, taking a few steps back, trying to figure out where the source was coming from. "Who are you? Where are you? Can we talk face-to-face? That would make me a lot more comfortable."_

"_Very well, look behind you."_

_Turning around like the voice asked, Chip slowly rotated himself around and saw something he didn't expect to see. Standing in front of him was an orange echidna, a female, and she was wearing a skirt that was red, white, and green with some gold jewelry on her neck and forehead. She looked friendly enough; she didn't look dangerous or anything to him._

"_Who? Who are you?" Chip asked once he recovered from the shock of her appearance._

"_I am Tikal. And you are the spirit, Light Gaia, am I correct?" She nodded towards him._

"_That's me. I also go by the name 'Chip'. My friend, Sonic, gave that name to me."_

"_It is a pleasure to meet you, Chip."_

"_Same to you, um, Tickle?"_

"_Tikal." The echidna girl corrected._

"_Tikal, got it." Chip nodded in understanding. "Anyway… what were you saying about me sounding sad? As a matter of fact, how are you even here? I'm asleep."_

_Tikal glanced at him with concern. "You miss your friends?"_

"_Uh, what makes you say that?" Chip wondered._

_Tikal gestured to the area surrounding them and to Sonic and Tails. "You're sleeping, but you're also remembering. You're remembering the times you had with your friends. You miss your friends so you are recalling the memories you had with them to make their absence less painful."_

_Turning his gaze to the ground in front of him depressingly, Chip asked, "How do you know that?"_

"_I'm a spirit, like you. I can sense these kinds of things."_

_Taking a peek up at the echidna, Chip pressed his questions further. "So why are you here?"_

"_I could sense your turmoil from the Master Emerald. I came to see what the problem was. It felt like you needed some help."_

"_The Master Emerald? Sonic, Tails, and Amy told me all about that. Their friend, Knuckles, guards it."_

_Tikal nodded her head. "That's correct."_

_Chip looked up at her completely. "So you live inside the Master Emerald?"_

"_Yes, the same way you live inside the Earth's core." Chip deflated a little once she mentioned the planet's core and turned away from her to look at Sonic and Tails again. As he looked at them, something was off._

"_Hey, they're frozen." Chip observed, flying over to inspect Sonic closely and did the same for Tails. He glanced all over the place. "Everything's frozen in time."_

_Tikal nodded in acknowledgement and walked out of the shadows between the two huts. "When you began to speak with me, you paused the memory. Your attention was diverted elsewhere."_

_Chip looked at the frozen world before humming in thought. "I guess that makes sense."_

"_Now," Tikal said in a tone which meant she was going to change the subject, "tell me, why are you so sad about your friends? The world is restored, everybody is back where they belong, and Dark Gaia won't be harming anyone for another eon or two."_

_Landing in front of her, Chip glanced up at her sadly. "Well, I've never had friends before Sonic and the others. Whenever Dark Gaia and I woke up, it was always restore the planet, defeat Dark Gaia, go back to sleep, and the cycle repeats. When Eggman woke us up at the wrong time, I lost my memory. I crossed paths with Sonic. He promised to help me figure out who I was." Chip spread his arms out at the world around them. "We traveled all over the world to places like this, eat such delicious food, and returned the planet to normal with each Chaos Emerald. It wasn't until we restored Adabat that I got my memories back. By then, I had made so many memories with Sonic and the others. I had made friends, my very first friends too._

"_We stopped Eggman soon enough and we beat Dark Gaia. Even though I knew it was coming, saying good-bye to Sonic and the others was so hard. They're so amazing. And because of the fact that they won't be around in the next eon, I'll probably never see them again…" He peeked over his shoulder to gaze at Sonic and Tails, frozen in action, and sighed as he turned back toward Tikal._

"_I know how you feel." Tikal said, placing one of her hands over her heart._

"_You do?" Chip asked with shock._

_The echidna girl nodded. "I do. Before I became a spirit, I was with my clan. We were close. Then my father and his men tried to take the Chaos Emeralds and use their power for greed. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to me. I was sent into unconscious and when I woke up… no one was there anymore. There was just me, the Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald. I never saw them again…" Tikal's line of vision turned to the ground under her feet._

"_I'm… I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that."_

"_It's alright. I've come to terms with it a long time ago."_

_Chip thought for a few moments before speaking again, "So, what does this have to do with me? Why are you here telling me this?"_

_Tikal met his eyes once more. "I came because I want to ask you something." She took a step forward to him and held out her hand. "Do you want to see your friends again?"_

"_More than anything." Chip answered and pulled his hands up to his chest. "But, what about sleeping? What about my powers? I need to restore them in time to defeat Dark Gaia when we awaken again."_

"_I can help you. I can help you get out of this life. If you want to join your friends on the Earth's surface, I can help you get there. You wouldn't have to be Light Gaia anymore. You could be just known as Chip."_

"_I could?"_

"_I have connections with powerful spirits. I am sure they could find another spirit to take your place. You've already done so much for this world that you deserve to be free, to be happy, to be with the friends you love."_

"_Are you sure?" Chip asked. "I mean, this sounds amazing, but is it really possible? Is it really possible for me to join Sonic and the others?"_

"_I can assure you it is." Tikal smiled and continued to hold her hand out to him. "What do you say? Do you wish to be with your friends on the surface world?"_

_Chip gave the frozen Sonic and Tails one more look before they and the environment vanished. Now he and Tikal were floating in the fiery red core of the planet. He could see the green light of power surrounding him and the purple light of Dark Gaia's power a good distance away. Did he really want this? Or did he want to stay and fulfill his role as Light Gaia? Looking at Tikal's hand, Chip glanced at his own. The little, purple spirit outstretched his hand to Tikal's and made a decision._

…

Knuckles relaxed on his back against the stone steps leading up to the Master Emerald's altar. It had been a couple smooth months since Sonic and Tails returned from the Lost Hex after stopping the Deadly Six from siphoning the planet's energy. Eggman was working on some new evil scheme, no doubt; he hadn't seen head or tail of Team Dark or the Chaotix detectives lately either. Cream and Cheese came by every so often to keep him company so he wouldn't get bored on the island and Big, that cat was probably out fishing again like usual. Today was just one of those quiet days without any visitors.

In a matter of seconds, he went from completely serene to highly alert. "Huh? The Master Emerald?" He got to his feet and marched up to the large emerald he was supposed to be protecting. As he got close, he noticed the emerald was getting brighter. It got so bright to the point where he had to shield his eyes.

"Hi there!" A voice piped up.

Knuckles peeked his eyes open to see that the Master Emerald was no longer glowing brightly. The only thing different in this picture was the small, purple dog with wings standing in front of it.

"Huh?" Knuckles said, confusedly.

"Hello, Knuckles."

The red echidna looked up and on top of the Master Emerald was Tikal, sitting gracefully.

"Tikal…" Knuckles said, still confused on what just happened.

"So you're Knuckles. I should've guessed with those spikes on your hands. Those look like they could break something." Chip commented, getting Knuckles' attention again. "Oh! I forgot," He twisted around and pulled out a bar of chocolate. "Want some chocolate?"

"Uh…" Knuckles had no idea to respond to this sudden event.

"Knuckles," Tikal said and he faced her again, "This is Chip, Sonic's friend from when the world split apart."

Knuckles nodded, finally enlightened on the situation. "Oh, yeah. I remember Sonic, Tails, even Amy talking about him." He glanced at Chip. "Come to think of it, I think I remember seeing some pictures of him over at Tails' Workshop too."

"Do you know where Sonic is?" Chip asked, flying up to Knuckles.

"Um, yeah." The red echidna answered as if it was the easiest question in the world.

"Awesome! Let's go right now! Sonic and Tails will be surprised when they see me." Chip cheered and started flying towards the descending stairs.

"Um, right now? But what about the Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked Chip, gesturing to his prized gem.

Tikal waved Knuckles off. "Don't worry about the Master Emerald, Knuckles. Chaos and I can look after it while you're gone. We do it all the time, remember? How else are you able to join in on Sonic's adventures and know the Master Emerald is safe at the same time? Besides, Sonic and Tails' place isn't too far right? You'll be back and guarding again before you know it." [2]

"Okay, if you say so." Knuckles agreed with the echidna girl and started descending the stairs. "Alright, let's go." He said as he passed an awaiting Chip.

"Sweet!" Chip cheered again and followed Knuckles.

…

Tails pulled his head out of the open panel of the Tornado 1, put down the screwdriver he was using, picked up a wrench, and lowered the upper half of his body inside the open panel again to make his tweaks.

Sonic opened the door to the main room of the workshop and slouched when he saw what his little brother was up to. "Tails, you have to give that a break. You've been at it since, well, I don't know when you last took a break."

The fox pulled himself out and turned to face Sonic. "Sorry, I just really want to get the walker function working on the Tornado 1. If I keep building planes that can transform into walkers, there will be one for each of us to use. We'll have a plane/walker set. I plan on making sure the controls aren't so jerky like on the Tornado 2's walker mode and just in case two people are in the walker, there will be extra seating room. Do you have any idea how hard it is to control a walker when G.U.N.'s trying to arrest you and Amy is squeezed in behind you and arguing with you too? We almost got hit by a missile!" Tails ranted before he blinked and realized what just occurred, "I gave too long of an explanation again didn't I?" [3]

"Yep." Sonic hummed with a nod. Tails sighed and mumbled something about learning to stop rambling. "Come on, since the only real thing I know how to make are chili dogs, Cream's mom brought us some lunch."

"Okay, I guess I can take a break. What are we having?" Tails put his tools back in his toolbox and set it on his work counter before joining Sonic on his way to the kitchen.

"Some lasagna or something like that I think she said."

"Sounds good."

As they entered the kitchen/dining room area of the workshop, they heard three knocks on the front door.

Tails looked at Sonic curiously, "I'll get the dishes and you get the door?"

"Sure." Sonic shrugged. Tails went to go get the dishes for lunch and Sonic walked to answer the door.

Sonic pulled the door open and saw Knuckles on the front stoop. "Hey, Knux, what's up? Couldn't stand your little island for a little while and need some hangout time with your buds?"

"I enjoy my island, thank you very much." Knuckles said gruffly. "I'm not here on social business. I came here because I had to show the way to this guy." He gestured down next to him.

Following Knuckles' gesture, Sonic's eyes widened. "Chip?!"

Chip waved in greeting. "Hey, Sonic! I'm back!"

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in deep sleep for the next eon to face Dark Gaia?" Sonic asked the dog.

"Nope," Chip shook his head, "I'm free. I'm not a spirit anymore. Knuckles' orange spirit friend helped me break free of my duties as Light Gaia."

"Orange spirit friend?" Sonic glanced at Knuckles.

"Tikal." Knuckles answered simply.

"Oh…" Sonic realized. He forgot about Tikal.

Chip fired up his wings and hovered at Sonic's eye level. "Now I can be part of your team, Sonic. I can be part of it just like I was when the planet was broken, but now I can stay forever."

Finally caught up on the situation, Sonic grinned. "Chip, that's so cool!" He looked over his shoulder. "Hey Tails, we might have to have a third plate ready!"

"Okay, but why?" Tails asked, coming over and freezing in surprise. "Chip?!"

"Hi, Tails! I'm part of the team again. I can't wait to see more of the world and help fight off Eggman's robots." Chip said, mimicking fighting moves. He got a dreamy look on his face, "Most important of all, I can't wait to taste more of the world's tasty food!"

Tails, along with Sonic, laughed. "Good to see you haven't changed since we saw you last, Chip. Come on in, we have some lasagna waiting for us. There's enough for all three of us to eat."

"Thank you!" Chip thanked the fox excitedly and flew into the workshop. A moment later, he returned to the door. "And thanks for bringing me here, Knuckles. Tell Tikal that I thank her for this."

"Yeah, no problem, I'll be sure to tell her that." Knuckles replied and Chip took off back to the table.

Tails looked from where Chip flew off to and back to Knuckles, "You can come in too and eat if you want. There's plenty to go around."

"No thanks," Knuckles declined. "But if you have an apple I wouldn't mind."

Sonic dashed into the kitchen, making Chip spin in mid-air twice, and brought back an apple. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Knuckles thanked him and took the apple. "Later." He walked back to Angel Island, taking a bite out of the apple as he went.

"Bye!" Tails waved after him.

Sonic gave him a two-finger salute. "Catch you later, Knux."

…

Tails was back in the workshop and working on the Tornado 1 again. Sonic and Chip watched from the doorway.

"Wow, he really wants to get that done, huh?" Chip asked Sonic.

"Tails is dedicated to his work, maybe a little too dedicated." Sonic answered, leaning against the doorway. He stood up straight and walked to the front door as Chip followed him. "Say, have you been on a night run before?"

"I don't think so." Chip scratched his head confusedly. "Why?"

Sonic opened the door and jogged outside. "Come on and I'll show you."

Curious and a bit worried since it was night out, Chip quickly made a decision to fly after his friend. "So where are we going?"

"Wherever we feel like, let's go!" Sonic encouraged him and started running faster.

Chip flew behind Sonic a few feet and watched as Sonic picked up speed. At that moment, he could feel the wind around him and he could see the landscape around him whizzing by, just like in the daytime. He felt so alive! And wherever Sonic was going, he was going too.

"Yeah!" The flying dog yelled joyfully and flew faster to keep up with Sonic.

* * *

[1]- I'd like to note that these aren't exactly memories Chip is having. They're more like things Chip wished they could have done together after the world was restored.

[2]- Tikal and Chaos watching over the Master Emerald is a head-canon of mine that explains why Knuckles is able to leave Angel Island and join in on Sonic's adventures like he often does. It is also probably them that call out to Knuckles when the Master Emerald shatters or is lost.

[3]- This is a reference to Child at Heart Forever's scene in her story, Live and Learn. Child writes story adaptions of Sonic games and they're so good that I think her stories are how the games actually went. The scene that Tails talks about is one of the ones that made me seriously LOL. XD

**So, Chip returns to the team. It really stunk that he didn't get to stay with Sonic and the gang so I decided to bring him back to the team. I think it is unfair that a lot of the characters created for the Sonic series are written as one-story characters. Characters like Chip could have been very interesting members of the gang in later games.**


	2. Planet of Neighbors

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic. That awesome franchise belongs to Sega.

* * *

Planet of Neighbors

Space never changed all that much except with the occasional meteor shower. Everything was always in its same place, orbiting around the center of the universe.

Though the people on Earth were on surface level of their planet, they still had ways of seeing things that happened up in space.

More than likely, they were bound to notice when a bright blue light brought an entirely new planet to their part of the galaxy. The planet was slightly smaller than Earth, and it was covered in green and blue.

...

The Sea Fox's thrusters roared as the spaceship made a trip from Earth to the new planet. [1]

"In all honesty guys, while I'm happy to get a visit from the Wisps, I have to wonder what they're doing back here." Sonic said as he observed the nearing planet in the main deck.

"I guess we'll find out as soon as we land." Tails assumed in his pilot seat, letting the auto-pilot work its magic while he pulled out the Miles Electric.

Up above them, Chip flew around in circles excitedly. "This is so cool! I've never met aliens before, or gone into space. And you guys do this often? Man, you guys have the best life!"

Knuckles crossed his arms and huffed while leaning in a seat further back, "I just don't see why we have to check things out because the G.U.N. commander asked us to. We're not even part of that organization."

"You didn't have to come, you know." Amy whirled around in the co-pilot seat to give Knuckles a dry look. "The rest of us came because the commander asked and we said we would do it. Sonic and Tails have had experience with the Wisps so sending them to check on their old friends was the best solution." [2]

Cream smiled in her own seat as she patted Cheese on the head. "I'm glad that I got to come no matter how I got involved. I really have to thank Mother for letting me go up into space with you all."

"You are going to love these little guys, Cream." Tails said with a grin. "These guys are like Chao, but with more speed and more abilities."

Amy clasped her hands together as a twinkle appeared in her eyes. "The fact that they were able to use those abilities of theirs to move their planet like that is amazing. Nobody has been able to do that before."

Sonic chuckled and flashed a grin towards Amy. "That's just the power of the Wisps, Amy. You should see what I can do with those guys."

"Anyway," Knuckles cut in to prevent Sonic from launching into a lengthy (and probably smug) elaboration of his color powers, "What's the plan, here? What are we supposed to do?"

Tails shrugged, pulling up information on the pad. "It's simple, really. Find a Wisp who can tell us why they're back here, learn if they have any issues, and if possible, fix the issues then send them home. As they prepare to leave, we'll get back on the Sea Fox, and head home to report to the commander."

"Simple enough." Sonic nodded with approval.

"Tails, I think it's time to start preparing for landing." Amy said to Tails.

Tails looked up and realized Amy was right, putting his device down. "Oh yeah. Sonic, we're going to be landing so I'd advise you to take a seat. Chip, that goes for you too." The two-tailed fox started rapidly pressing buttons on the control panel.

"Do I have to? I think I'll be fine up here." Chip pouted.

"Just do it."

"Okay, okay." Reluctantly, Chip sat down and buckled himself in.

...

All the Wisps in the area were playing and frolicking one minute and the next minute, they were scrambling to avoid being squashed by the foreign thing arriving on their planet. They already had one bad experience with that kind of thing; they did not need a second one.

They all scurried around to find a hiding spot, and immediately took refuge. One unfortunate Green Wisp flew straight into a tree, tumbling down to the ground in a daze. As soon as it collected itself, it jumped into the nearest foliage it could.

The Sea Fox wasn't that big, but it did need a certain zone big enough to land on. With a low hum, the Sea Fox landed on the grassy field the Wisps previously occupied moments ago. As the ship powered down, the door on its side hissed open and a ramp touched down to the ground.

Sonic was the first to step off the Sea Fox and the first thing he did was take a deep breath, inhaling the planet's air. "Ah, fresh air. I forgot how good the air was on the Wisps' planet."

"And it hasn't changed a bit. That's good." Tails remarked, constantly switching his view from the planet to the Miles Electric.

Knuckles descended the ramp, and got a look at the scenery. "I know we could see this from space, but this place is really… green."

"And beautiful too, it looks just like a place from a fairy tale." Amy said, gazing at the plant life nearby.

Cream and Cheese followed their friends outside, and gazed at the immediate surroundings. "This reminds me of a Chao Garden." Cream commented.

"Chao chao chao." Cheese chirped in agreement. Chip fluttered out after everyone else and rubbed his belly.

"I don't know about you guys, but that long space ride made me hungry. You think they've got something we can eat around here?" Chip wondered absentmindedly.

Tails shrugged as he looked at Chip, "They might, but if I were you, I wouldn't go sticking the first thing that remotely looks like food in your mouth." He turned his attention back to the Miles Electric as Chip pouted again.

"Aw, but what if it tastes good?"

"Um, Tails," Cream piped up, "This may sound like a dumb question, but, where are all the Wisps? Didn't you and Sonic say that there were thousands of them?"

The area around them was deadly silent, and lacking in activity. It was like everything but them had come to a complete standstill.

"I think the Sea Fox scared them off. I know if I was one of them, I'd high tail it out of here too." Knuckles guessed, looking around for any sign of creature life.

Sonic took a few steps forward, "Maybe they just need a little reassurance." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hello! Any Wisps out there? No need to be afraid, it's just the duo who saved you all, and their buddies!"

"Sonic," Amy planted her hands on her hips, "I may not know these aliens like you and Tails do, but I'm pretty sure that's not the right way to get them to come out."

As the group watched for a sign, Cheese suddenly pointed off in a direction. "Chao!" He exclaimed quietly, so as not to frighten any Wisps nearby. The rest of the group followed where he was pointing and sure enough, they could make out the sight of a Cyan Wisp peeking out behind a tree.

"Okay, so we found one, but how are we supposed to get it to come out?" Knuckles wondered with skepticism.

"Smaller creatures tend to be more afraid of creatures larger than them so maybe if we send someone just as big as a Wisp, then maybe the Wisp won't be as afraid." Tails pointed out.

"Cheese," Cream turned to her best friend, "You're small enough. Could you go and talk to that Wisp, please?"

"Chao!" Cheese fluttered over to where the Cyan Wisp was hiding.

When Cheese approached, the Wisp shrunk away from the Chao and hid further behind the tree. The Chao continued to approach, regardless, and came over by the tree. The Wisp froze with fear, but as soon as Cheese started to attempt to communicate with him, the Wisp soon relaxed and started to respond. The group watched this go on for a good minute before Cheese led the Cyan Wisp over to them. Upon looking at Sonic and Tails, the Cyan Wisp lit up and started doing loops in the air in a fit of joy.

"Got any idea what he's saying, Tails?" Sonic asked his little brother.

"Nope, I forgot to turn on the translator. Just give me a moment." Tails responded, beginning to fiddle with the Miles Electric.

The Cyan Wisp stopped doing loops and turned his nonexistent back to the group, crying out to seemingly no one.

In moments, tons of colors came out of hiding and started approaching the newcomers. From all sorts of nooks and crannies, Wisps spilled out into the open in response to the Cyan Wisp's call.

"Whoa…" Chip gasped, his arms and legs going slack as his wings were the only body parts left moving.

"Oh my…" One of Amy's gloved hands covered over her mouth.

"Wow…" Cream squeaked while Knuckles gave a low whistle.

Just like Sonic and Tails had said, nearly thousands of Wisps gathered around them at all sorts of heights and colors. Wisps came in colors such as blue, green, orange, pink, even colors that Sonic and Tails had found on the Lost Hex like ivory and indigo.

The group stared at all the Wisps around them. Sonic was snapped out of his gaze when he heard a familiar warble. As he turned to the source, he saw a certain White Wisp darting to him.

"Yacker!" Sonic exclaimed with a smile. Yacker tackled Sonic in a hug and nuzzled his head against the hedgehog's chin. "I missed you, pal! Hey, high five- er, one!" The blue hedgehog held up his hand and Yacker gleefully smacked it with one of his tentacles. "That's what I'm talking about!" Yacker hovered over to the Cyan Wisp and warbled something to it. The Cyan Wisp warbled back and flew over to the nearest part of the crowd to join them. The White Wisp with the curly top floated over to Sonic and the gang and squeaked a statement. "What did he say, Tails?"

Tails read the screen of his pad and lit up in response as Yacker continued to speak. "He says, 'It's good to see you again, my friends. It feels like it's been a long time since we've seen each other.'"

"Isn't that the truth."

"'We once again cannot express our thanks for saving us from Baldy McNosehair.'"

Chip seemed confused, "Wait, who?"

The fox continued to translate, "'Our lives have returned to normal and all of us have stopped worrying about being captured again.'"

"Sounds like everything is going good so far." Amy commented pleasingly.

"'Recently though, we have gotten a new problem.'"

"Which is…?" Knuckles drawled out, hoping to get some kind of answer.

"Everyone quiet and let me finish." Tails glared at the others momentarily in frustration. "'In our haste to return home after we returned the favor of saving your world, we forgot something important that we needed your help with.' Hm, I wonder what that could be."

"Yeah," Sonic agreed and looked to Yacker for answers, "You guys have a problem? That's why you came back?" Yacker nodded positively both times in response.

Cream and Cheese glanced at each other as Cream looked worried, "Oh, I hope it's nothing too horrible."

"Wait," Chip interrupted, "I'm still lost. Who's this 'Baldy McNosehair' guy?"

Amy glanced at Yacker with worry. "So, what's the problem, exactly? Maybe we can fix it."

Yacker, no doubt pleased that their hero and his friends could help them out, clapped two of his appendages together and beckoned for the team to follow him as he flew in a direction while simultaneously telling the other Wisps to go on with their day.

"I still don't know who Baldy McNosehair is!" Chip cried out as the rest of the team followed Yacker. Sighing, he chased after them to catch up.

...

It didn't take long before Yacker led the group to a cliff overlook. He stopped at the top and once the team reached him, he pointed down into a valley. The others looked down at what he was pointing at, and grimaced.

Down below in the valley was some of the machinery that Eggman had set up and building to make Planet Wisp part of his interstellar amusement park.

"Ooh, that. I totally forgot about that." Sonic cringed at the sight of Eggman's machinery.

Tails held his hand to his forehead in disappointment. "Yeah, me too." Yacker warbled and Tails held up his translator, "Okay, he says, 'We forgot about that too. We remembered a little while after, and we thought it wouldn't be a problem. Now, we've had a few incidents involving some of us crashing into this stuff and getting into trouble. After having so many problems, we decided we had enough.'"

Knuckles huffed and crossed his arms, "If I had to deal with a mess like Eggman's robots everywhere every day, I would get frustrated too."

Humming in thought, Amy rested a hand on her hip. "Well, at least we have an idea of why the Wisps came back." [3]

"The poor things. Even those who don't live on our planet are being harmed by Dr. Eggman." Cream sighed, and took Cheese into her arms for comfort.

"So just what are we supposed to do?" Chip asked the others.

Sonic glanced at the machinery. "We don't know. That's a lot of nuts and bolts down there, but this isn't a problem that can't be fixed. Usually everything of Eggman's just explodes when we're through with it."

"Except this time it didn't explode, and if we try to destroy it all, it could ruin the Wisps' ecosystem. I think we'd be doing more harm than good. Eggman did construction on someone else's property here, and we don't have the proper tools for deconstruction." Tails pointed out in dismay.

"Great," Knuckles rolled his eyes, "So we came all this way only for us to not be able to do anything?"

Amy raised her thumb and index finger to her chin. "Not necessarily…"

"What is it, Amy?" Cream asked.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese added.

The pink hedgehog swayed her head left and right as she thought. "Tails has a point about Eggman doing construction, and he also said that we don't have the right tools for the job."

"Meaning…" Sonic drawled out for elaboration.

"Meaning that we might not be able to help the Wisps, but we do know someone who can." Amy concluded with a finger raised in finality.

The others looked at her, and then each other in puzzlement.

...

"So you see, Commander, this issue is one of the biggest, and most difficult ones we've ever faced. Our methods usually work, but with what Eggman did differently this time, it's clear that we need a different solution to the problem. Which is why we came to you and G.U.N." Tails explained while showing the commander the pictures of Planet Wisp he took.

"I see." The commander gazed at the footage.

Sonic stepped forward. "We know that we have had bad experiences with aliens in the past, but let me assure you, the Wisps are cool little guys that wouldn't harm a fly. We also know that you guys are protectors, not construction workers, but a special task like this calls for special operations."

"Okay, say we do remove Eggman's creations from the planet, what do we do with it all afterwards?"

"Think of it as recycling," Amy answered, "You could take Eggman's old, evil inventions, and turn it all into something good. Eggman has a knack for designing machines, so you could turn that around from an advantage of his to an advantage of yours. You would be using his materials for your purposes. No junk would be piling up anywhere on either planet, it wouldn't have to be burned up and release gases into either atmosphere, none of it would have to be jettisoned out into space and end up who knows where and cause intergalactic disputes, and it would do the world's work force some good by giving many people something to do to earn their wages. There can even be volunteer programs for the cleanup." [4]

"See? You could do a lot of good stuff with all of that!" Chip added in eagerly, flying up close to the commander before returning to Sonic's side.

The commander stood up from his seat. "You all make excellent points. I will have to discuss this with my colleagues, but I don't see how it wouldn't be possible."

"Well that answer is reassuring. At least it's more of a straight answer than Rouge will ever give me." Knuckles deadpanned.

"Though, I do have one question."

Tails blinked confusedly. "What would that be?"

"What about those Wisps? What would we do about them? Would we simply try to work with them around, or what?"

The group fell silent. They hadn't thought about that. They had mostly focused on trying to get G.U.N. to approve the project.

Just when it seemed like no one had an idea, Cream looked up with a gasp.

"I have an idea!"

...

Wisps flew all around, some playing with Chao. A few Chao were playing with Blue Wisps in a game of Stack the Wisps, other Wisps of all colors helped some Chao learn to fly, and then some Wisps were helping Chao get food from the fruit trees.

"This was a great idea, Cream!" Tails exclaimed off to the side. "Since the Wisps don't necessarily eat, they can co-exist peacefully with the Chao in the Chao Gardens. The gardens seem even livelier than ever."

Cream smiled as she watched the garden they were currently in, Cheese currently sitting on her head. "I knew it would all work out. Just look at all the fun they're having."

"And we managed to start up Wisp Colonies on the Lost Hex too. With the Zeti off of that thing, it should be a pretty safe place for them." Sonic commented next to the young group of heroes.

Tails gazed up at the sky thoughtfully. "I wonder where the Deadly Six are. If they're no longer on the Lost Hex, then where are they?" [5]

"Ah, who cares? They'll show their faces when they want to, and when they do, we'll just take them down all over again."

"Hey, guys!" Chip called out. The group turned in the direction of his voice, and saw the purple little guy fly up. "I got one of those Chao fruit things. It looks delicious!"

Cream frowned in concern. "Chip, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Hey, food is food." He declared. Opening his mouth, he took a huge bite out of the fruit. He was about to chew and savor the fruit when his face screwed up. Not a moment later, he spat out the fruit. "Blech! Yuck! What kind of fruit tastes like this?!"

The group laughed at his soured expression as he tried to get the taste out of his mouth. As they laughed, Sonic's communicator started beeping. The blue hero turned it on.

"What's up?" He questioned the caller.

"Sonic," Amy's voice filtered through, "You know how you told us about those Zeti things?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, if I'm remembering your description correctly, then they're attacking Twinkle Park! I'm on my way inside with Big right now, but we're going to need your help."

"On my way!" He answered before turning off the communicator, and got to his feet. "Guess the Deadly Six decided to show up. We have to roll."

Tails, Cream, and Cheese got up as well. "Okay!" The former two agreed.

"Yeah," Chip exclaimed, discarding the fruit and starting to do martial arts poses, "Let's go give those guys a one-way ticket to the exit!"

Sonic glanced at the Chao Garden, and cupped a hand next to his mouth. "Yacker, we have to go! Come on!"

The Wisp with the curl on top of his head looked up at the mention of his name. Briefly addressing the Wisps and the Chao he was playing with, he flew over to them.

"Enjoy the garden, Wisps! You're going to love it here!" Sonic gave the Wisps a quick salute, and dashed off with his friends in tow.

As he and his friends headed towards Station Square, Sonic noticed Yacker flying right next to him. Yacker happily waved at him, warbling something before the little alien soared in front of him, leaving a light trail in his wake. Sonic chuckled at the sight, and took it as a challenge to see who could reach Twinkle Park first.

* * *

[1]- I'm not sure what the name of Tails' ship in Shadow the Hedgehog is, but Child called it the Sea Fox, and it seems as good as any so I'm going with that.

[2]- While the Sonic gang are not members of G.U.N. I can imagine that after the Black Arms invasion, they have established connections so should another crisis like such come up, they can contact each other instead of working together through Team Dark.

[3]- Sonic only destroyed robots when he was on Planet Wisp. He didn't destroy the construction that was there. That's why I have a headcanon that the Wisps returned to Sonic's galaxy so they could get his help in taking everything down.

[4]- Just imagine the possibilities of what good could be done with the cleanup efforts.

[5]- Another headcanon: While G.U.N. cleans up Planet Wisp, the Wisps share the Chao Gardens around Sonic's world, and it also explains why there are Wisps on the Lost Hex.


	3. Bait and Switch

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, or anything canon to the franchise.

* * *

Bait and Switch

"This isn't over! Eggmanland will become a thing, and you won't stop it!" Eggman hollered behind him as he flew away in his Egg Pod.

On a cliff overlooking the lush, green mountain sides, Blaze the Cat stood watching the madman flee. "As long as your plan involves putting my world at risk, I will do everything I can to ensure you do not succeed!"

"Just you wait and see, princess!" The evil genius shouted off in the distance. "Just you wait and see!"

Blaze grit her teeth, and clenched her fist at her side, flames trying to slip through the cracks between her fingers. Soon Tails, Cream, and Cheese caught up to her. Tails grinned at her when he touched down, and his tails came out of helicopter formation.

"Nice job, Blaze. That should slow Eggman and Eggman Nega down for a little bit. Now we should have a little time to play catch-up." Tails praised the cat.

Cream's ears stopped flapping, and the young rabbit too settled on the ground. Cheese hovered next to her with a smile on his little face.

"Tails is right. Now we can find some of the Chaos Emeralds, and figure out just what it is that those awful Eggmen are doing." Cream agreed.

Blaze nodded. "Thank you, my friends. With your help, I was able to track down the doctor here and start getting some answers."

Cream held one hand up to her chin thoughtfully. "I still wonder why Dr. Eggman and Mr. Eggman Nega trapped you and Sonic into going to each other's home worlds. It doesn't make any sense to me." She turned to her faithful companion. "Cheese, any ideas?"

"Chao chao," Cheese shook his head and shrugged, "Chao chao chao chao."

The royal cat folded her arms over her chest. "I believe that their plot was to switch us around. By switching their usual adversaries, they must believe their plan will be easier to carry out. Every other time we've crossed paths, it's either been here in your world, or over in mine. We've always worked together in the same world, but take us out of our respective dimensions and put us in unfamiliar territory without each other, it makes it harder for us to figure out our next move." [1]

Tails huffed. "Well, that sure worked out well. Their plan would've worked out in their favor much more if they had done one other thing."

"What's that, Tails?" Cream asked, not understanding what the Eggmen missed.

"Sent us there too," Tails answered, "They forget that it's not just Sonic and Blaze that are the big threats to their schemes. It's the rest of us too: you, me, Knuckles, Amy, the others, and Marine over in Blaze's dimension. If only Sonic and Blaze are switched, then they have the rest of the gang in each world to help them out. Had they swapped both sides of the group into the opposite world, they wouldn't have anybody from the world they're sent to help them out."

"Very perceptive, Tails." Blaze smiled.

"Haha, yeah." Tails chuckled, slightly embarrassed that he had once again shown his brilliance. While it was great to be the resident genius most of the time, sometimes even he surprised himself by his deductions.

Cream clapped her hands excitedly as Cheese threw his arms in the air. "Then that means Sonic isn't in as much trouble as we originally thought. If Miss Marine is over in Blaze's world, then Sonic has someone to help him get back home just like Blaze has us."

"Speaking of getting back home," Blaze began, "We should keep moving. The sooner we defeat Eggman and Eggman Nega's plan, the sooner I can get back home to my world and guard the Sol Emeralds. While they're still in their home dimension, I still have no idea whether my world can remain in one piece without me watching over the emeralds' power."

Tails nodded. "Right, come on." He gestured for the group to follow him as he started spinning his tails again. He started flying down the mountainside, and the others were quick to follow. Cream started flapping her ears, and began her descent. Cheese eagerly went after her, and Blaze gracefully jumped down.

"I hope Marine is doing okay without me…" Blaze whispered to herself.

…

Sonic dashed across the sandy dunes, kicking up dust as he went. His intense concentration was broken when he saw something out of his peripherals.

"Whoa!" He jumped up, dodging a narrow blast of fire. As soon as he cleared the flames, he hit ground running.

"This thing is relentless!" Marine exclaimed as she ran up by his side.

"Yeah," Sonic agreed, "Almost as relentless as my normal opponent in these kinds of fights." He chanced a glance back at their attacker.

Flying just behind and above them appeared to be a robot modeled after Blaze. With a core like Metal Sonic's, glowing blue eyes, and holes within its hands and feet, it could almost pass off as Blaze as much as Metal Sonic could pass for Sonic. The robot was Steel Blaze. [2]

Seeing as Steel Blaze was not attacking for the moment, Sonic shot a teasing look at the raccoon running beside him. "New friend of yours, I take it?"

Marine let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "Hardly. Weeks ago, Blaze and I were out at sea, trying to reclaim some pirate loot that Captain Whisker and Johnny had stolen from a pirate's display at a museum some leagues from here. We were in the middle of fighting over the riches when that blowhard Eggman Nega showed up and introduced this drongo to us. Decided to give us a taste of what the darn thing could do, and the fight went three ways. It was quite a surprise- yeowza!" The young raccoon quickly ducked out of the way of some rather large fireballs coming from behind. Once they passed, Marine grit her teeth. "Hey! I was telling your legend, you gunnysack, you should be thanking me!" She hollered back at the machine.

"Spring up ahead!" Sonic alerted the raccoon girl upon the end of the fireball volley.

"Aye-aye, mate! I got this!"

The pair jumped onto the spring, and they were launched into the air. Mid-jump, Marine directed her attention to the robot. "It's about time you cool your jets. I've had enough of you today! Water Spin!" She started spinning rapidly as water enveloped around her. Without warning, the water tornado homed in on Steel Blaze. The water made contact, and it vanished as Marine's foot hit the thing's head. [3]

Steel Blaze bleeped as it hurtled towards the sandy ground. Once it hit, it tumbled a few feet.

Meanwhile, Marine hit the ground running beside Sonic once more.

"So, yeah. The fight actually worked out in our favor, since that Blaze copycat attacked Whisker and Johnny too. They turned tail and ran, we got the treasure back, and that thing has been popping up from time to time since." Marine concluded her tale, huffing exhaustedly as they ran.

Sonic nodded. "Sounds familiar. Nice work by the way," He complimented her, "I take it Blaze has been training you with your water abilities."

"Right on! Blaze thought if I was going to be helping her since we met, she thought I should be able to fight like you and her. Since my powers work a lot like hers, but with water, she taught me most of her techni- tacky-"

"Techniques?"

"Yep, that word."

"Cool- jump!" Sonic quickly forced her to jump up, as Steel Blaze once again threw fire at the ground they were running on.

Marine scowled. "Darn it all! I thought it was done!" She complained.

"Guess it wasn't. I'll finish this." Sonic spun into a ball. "Time to put out the fire!" He homing attacked the robot, and it seemed to crash into the ground.

Marine braked, and looked back as Sonic joined her. "Is it calling quits?"

They watched the robot lay in the dirt for a few moments until it stood on its metallic feet. The Blaze lookalike stared at them, them doing the same. For a moment, they were at a standstill. Then Steel Blaze warbled, and shot off into the sky.

"Definitely calling it quits." Sonic answered for Marine. "Though, I have a feeling it'll be back soon enough."

"Good riddance to that bad rubbish." Marine turned and started walking off in a direction. "We have too much to do, and the last thing we need is for that rust bucket to keep hassling us."

The blue hero watched as she walked away, and smirked. "You sure that's the right way back to the Ocean Tornado?"

"Of course I know this is the right way. I'm the great Captain Marine, remember? I know all about geography and oceanography. I know which way I'm going." Marine boasted.

He shrugged, and followed after her. "Just checking."

The pair began their long walk back to their ship.

"Looks like we've got good news and bad news," Marine started to say, "The good news is we found another Sol Emerald, and we can cross Island Dunes Zone off our map." Sonic held up the two current emeralds they had: the red one and the green one. "The bad news is we still don't know what you're doing here, or what Eggman Nega is up to." She started to rub her head in strained thought. "I really wish I could just figure this out. I'm a captain. I should know all the answers." [4]

"Nothing's wrong with not having all the answers. Nobody can know everything."

"Still feels like I should know."

Sonic frowned. "Does this have to do with Blaze not being here so you feel like you have to step up and take her place?"

"No." Marine answered, and then added after a moment. "Okay, yeah, sort of. It's just, I'm her best mate, Sonic. So when she goes missing, I have to do what she would do. She's probably counting on me to keep an eye on the place in her stead. If she finds out that I lost the emeralds, she'll explode!" The young raccoon began to lose her cool and panic.

"Marine, you don't really believe that do you? I mean, I know Blaze has a temper, but I really don't think she expects all of that from you." He started to smile. "Besides, we're fixing everything right now. Look, we have two of the emeralds back. Five more and you're good." Sonic held up the two emeralds to her.

Marine rubbed the back of her head. "I guess you're right."

The blue hedgehog frowned again. "Is something bugging you? Not just the emeralds going missing, or the new robot?"

The young, orange raccoon sighed. "Ever since that first adventure with the Jeweled Scepter, Blaze and I have always gone on every adventure together. This is the first time that I've gone out without her. I reckon I'm just a little wobbly about this whole thing. It's usually her and I that get into this kind of trouble."

"Oh…" Sonic nodded in understanding. Then he put on another smile. "You know, Tails went through the same kind of thing a few years back."

"He did?" She asked.

"Yeah, we were on one of Eggman's giant airships, and we had to go separate ways for different reasons. I had to go after Eggman, and he had to get Amy off the carrier. When we met up after that, he told me all about he saved Station Square from Eggman's missile all by himself. It was the first time he really ever did something like that. He didn't know where I was, and he knew if he didn't do something then Eggman would win and Station Square would be in ruins." [5]

"So what did he do?"

"He realized that he had to be brave, and do something by himself. He ended up beating Eggman to the missile, and managed to shut it down. Eggman was so mad about that, he left for a moment and came back with this giant machine. Tails stood his ground, and fought him. He won the fight, and Eggman had to bail. Tails became a hero to Station Square after that."

"Sounds like quite the story."

"Yeah it was. Maybe when we get the time, I'll tell you the whole story, and maybe a few others too. They're all really cool." Sonic's smile became nostalgic.

"They sure sound like it." Marine agreed.

Sonic glanced down at the emeralds in his hands, and gazed at them as he walked along. They were so similar to the Chaos Emeralds. They had that same color, and they felt like they had similar energy to the Chaos Emeralds as well, but a little more fiery. As he gazed at them, a thought came to his mind.

"Here." He thrust the emeralds into Marine's hands.

She fumbled to grasp them as Sonic put them in her hands. Once she had a grip on them, she stared at them in awe. They were so shiny, she could see her reflection in them. The way they felt, they felt incredible and powerful, but also tame. Marine looked up at Sonic. "You're giving these to me?"

"Why not?" Sonic shrugged. "Your world, your emeralds. If it'll help you feel better, once Blaze finds out you were protecting them the whole time, she'll be proud of you for being a great substitute guardian."

The orange raccoon looked at the emeralds again. She could practically feel the responsibility surrounding the emeralds. The same responsibility that Blaze always felt when she carried them. She couldn't let Blaze down. She never had before, and she wasn't going to start.

"Thanks, Sonic." Marine thanked him with a meaningful stare.

"No problem." Sonic glanced up the path ahead. "Hey, I think I see the Ocean Tornado from here."

She followed his gaze, and saw he was correct. Her confidence returning, she put the emeralds away for safekeeping, and put on her best captain face. "Alright, mate. Back to the ship!" She charged forward.

Behind her, Sonic chuckled, and picked up his pace. As much as he didn't like water, her enthusiasm was contagious, and she was his only way off the literal desert island.

They would find a way to get him and Blaze back to their home worlds. They always found a way out of their problems.

* * *

[1]- What I think should happen in Sonic Rush 3 if it ever happens. Eggman and Eggman Nega believe swapping arch-nemeses would be key for being able to put their Eggmanland plans into action, so they trick Sonic and Blaze into being thrown into each other's world. While Tails, Cream, and Cheese help out Blaze, Marine helps out Sonic. The final battle, in which Sonic uses the Sol Emeralds and Blaze uses the Chaos Emeralds, should return things to normal.

[2]- Steel Blaze: Eggman Nega's Metal Sonic for Blaze. Eggman Nega realizes how much of a challenge Metal Sonic is for Sonic, so he takes a page out of Eggman's book, and creates Steel Blaze to give Blaze a run for her money. Has many abilities akin to Metal Sonic's, but also has its own abilities such as flamethrowers embedded in its robot palms. An OC of mine.

[3]- It has been speculated what Marine's powers are. Some say hydrokinesis, some say photokinesis, I say hydrokinesis. It makes sense because Marine loves the sea, and being Blaze's sidekick, would allow her to keep Blaze in check in case her fire powers get a little wild. Since her powers work in the same fashion as Blaze's, she'd have water variations of all of Blaze's moves along with a few of her own.

[4]- Island Dunes Zone, a fan location of mine. It's an island in Blaze and Marine's dimension which is nothing but giant hills of sand with few oases.

[5]- A reference to Sonic Adventure, the moment Tails learns he can step out of Sonic's shadow and save the day himself.


End file.
